About CDCR
Secretary Ralph Diaz

Ralph Diaz serves as Acting Secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), effective September 1, 2018. He has over 27 years of experience in the field of corrections, serving in various leadership roles over the past five years, including Undersecretary of Operations, Deputy Director of Facility Operations, and Associate Director of High Security Institutions. Before that, Mr. Diaz served as a prison warden, correctional counselor supervisor, and correctional counselor, after starting his career as a correctional officer in 1991. He possesses in-depth knowledge of CDCR and public safety issues, as well as hands-on institutional skills. Mr. Diaz has been instrumental in developing policies and processes that focus on staff well-being and training, inmate rehabilitation and accountability, and communication with victims and families. His own personal history growing up in a small town in the central San Joaquin Valley, under the guidance of his mother and father who both worked in law enforcement, contributed to his unique perspective. Mr. Diaz is proud to be a leader in CDCR as it embraces its mission to rehabilitate the people entrusted to its care, understanding that this is key to the public safety of the people of the State of California, and to the future of the state.